The gang in question is the Spokane Police Department, which
even now refuses to acknowledge that Thompson – who was a nominee to become
Chief at the time he murdered Zehm – ever did anything wrong when he clubbed,
tased, and suffocated a terrified, innocent man who did nothing to provoke the
attack, and who put up no violent resistance to the assault.

On March 18, 2006, Zehm retrieved some money at an ATM near
Zip Trip. Something in his behavior struck two girls as odd, so they called the
police. Although there was no reason to believe that Zehm had committed a
crime, Thompson entered the store as if he were pursuing a dangerous fugitive.
Security video documents that Thompson approached Zehm from behind, while
retrieving his custom-made, over-sized ironwood nightstick.

Thompson introduced himself to Zehm by shouting at him to
drop the two-liter bottle of Pepsi. According to the officer, the startled and
puzzled man responded by quite reasonably asking, “Why?” Thompson interpreted
that Zehm’s fleeting non-compliance as an immediate and intolerable threat to
officer safety. So he rushed at the terrified man and began to beat him with
his nightstick – clubbing him first in the legs, then on the shoulders, neck,
and head. Blows to the head are defined as lethal strikes under the Spokane
PD’s use-of-force policy, justifiable only when a suspect threatens the life of
a police officer or bystanders.

As
the security video demonstrates, Zehm never put up a fight. He retreated
from Thompson, and then made a pitiable attempt to use his bottle of soda to
deflect blows aimed at his face. Thompson escalated his assault by tasering him
at least three times. Thompson was eventually joined by six other other police
officers. Eventually, Thompson was actually sitting on Zehm, who was face-down
on the floor.

The victim was hog-tied in a “four-point
restraint,” meaning that his hands were shackled to his ankles. Department
policy guidelines emphasize that suspects restrained in this fashion are never
to be placed face-down, since this posture can result in “positional asphyxia.”
Yet Zehm was left in that position for about seventeen minutes, and at one
point an officer actually pulled his feet backwards – which increased the risk
of suffocation by placing pressure on the victim’s diaphragm.

After emergency personnel arrived, they were instructed to dig
the Taser barbs out of Zehm’s flesh. They were also asked to provide a
“non-rebreathing” oxygen mask; this was placed over the victim’s face,
supposedly to prevent him from assaulting the officers by spitting on them.
This mask was not designed or intended to be used without being attached to an
oxygen supply. Once the mask was placed on Zehm’s face, the traumatized and
panicking man – who was already at severe risk of hypoxia – was forced to
breathe through an easily obstructed opening roughly the size of a quarter.

Thomspon, immediately after assaulting Zehm.

Did Thompson and his cohorts deliberately set out to
suffocate Zehm? Every step they took led inexorably to that outcome, and
incompetence can only explain so much. That was the outcome, whether it was the
result of deliberate malice or depraved indifference. Zehm stopped breathing
about seventeen minutes after Thompson’s initial assault, and died in a nearby
hospital about two days later. But the police department’s assault on Zehm
continued while he struggled for life in the hospital, and didn’t end with his
death.

On the day of the beating, Police Chief Jim Nicks told the
media that Zehm had “lunged” at Thompson, thereby threatening his life. Other
officers claimed that Zhem had a prior arrest for assaulting an officer. Both
claims were conscious, deliberate lies.

About two weeks after Zehm’s death, Detective Terry
Ferguson, who “investigated” the incident for the Spokane PD, filed a report
claiming that none of the seven officers who assaulted Zehm committed a crime.
Ferguson had little time to investigate what was done to Zehm, because she was too
busy investigating the victim. The detective persuaded a judge to issue
warrants to pry into every aspect of Zehm’s medical, employment, and personal
history, on the pretext that the deceased was suspected of “assaulting a police
officer.” This was actually an unsuccessful effort to exhume something –
anything – that could be used to denigrate the victim.

After the pressure of a threatened lawsuit, Spokane County
Prosecutor Steve Tucker released the video recordings of the assault, which he
and the police had diligently suppressed. The recordings contradicted every
critical element of Thompson’s version of the event, beginning with the claim that
Zehm had “lunged” at the officer.

With no criminal charges filed against Thompson, Zehm’s
family announced its intention to sue the City of Spokane, and the Justice
Department began a civil rights inquiry. In March 2009 – three years after the
killing – Chief Anne Kirkpatrick (who had replaced Chief Nicks) issued a public
statement offering her “unequivocal support” to Thompson. “Based on all the
information and evidence I have reviewed, I have determined that Officer Karl
Thompson acted consistent with the law,” Kirkpatrick insisted.

A few months later, Chief Kirkpatrick assigned Thompson –
who was, recall, the subject of a federal civil rights investigation – to help
train other Spokane police officers how to deal with “high-risk liability
incidents,” which have been plentiful.

Spokane’s municipal government, which
paid out $2.5 million to resolve police-related lawsuits between 1996 and 2007,
has a policy of filing counter-suits accusing citizens of “conspiracy to misuse
the judicial process.” This is made possible by a state statute intended to
protect police against supposedly frivolous lawsuits. Given all of this it’s
not surprising that Chief Kirkpatrick’s unqualified endorsement of Thompson’s
actions was coupled with an unyielding official line blaming the victim for his
own death. “Any injury or damage suffered by Mr. Zehm was caused solely by
reason of his conduct and willful resistance,” proclaimed the City of Spokane’s
official response to the family’s civil lawsuit.

Mr. Zehm’s “conduct” – which, according to Chief Kirkpatrick
and Spokane’s municipal government, justified the use of lethal force --
consisted of doing exactly nothing. Then
again, he was armed with a bottle of
Pepsi, which apparently left the heroic Officer Thompson no choice but to stage
a preemptive strike with his club and Taser. Perhaps if it had been Mt. Dew,
the use of tactical nukes would have been appropriate.

“If all [the victim] wanted to do was surrender, he could
have done so,” insisted Officer Terry Preuninger, the Spokane PD’s SWAT Team
Leader and patrol tactics instructor, during the trial. “[Officer Thompson’s]
assessment was accurate. He continued to use force. It did allow him to keep
that man from hurting him or anyone else.”

Thompson began his attack within seconds of arriving at the
store – before Zehm had a chance to “surrender.” Furthermore, the victim was
backing away from the officer. According to Preuninger – who, as SWAT leader,
approaches such situations with a militarized close-and-kill mindset – this
didn’t matter: “Picture wrestlers or boxers. It’s definitely not an indication
that they don’t want to hurt or assault you because they move back.”

“A police officer becomes an expert in evaluation of
behavior or picking out little things that are different,” Preuninger asserted
on the stand. Victor Boutros, chief prosecutor during the trial, treated that
claim with laudable contempt, mocking
this supposed preternatural gift of
discernment as a “Spidey sense” that “can’t be impeached by citizen eye
witnesses or video. Only [Thompson] could have seen those things.”

Furthermore, according to Preuninger, police have plenary
authority to use lethal force even when their perceptions are in error: “A
police officer can make a mistake. An officer could believe their [sic] life
was in danger or they [sic] were in danger of being assaulted when in fact we could
go back in hindsight and show that’s not true. But the force would be
authorized.”

This is to say: From the perspective of the individual who
trains the Spokane PD regarding the use of force, Karl Thompson was completely
right – but he could have been entirely wrong, and he would still have had the
authority to kill Otto Zehm. This is because police officers, who face an
all-encompassing threat from the public they supposedly protect, must be
entitled to employ aggressive violence at all times, Preuninger maintains: “If
you approach law enforcement situations the same way you would a neighborhood
meeting … it will directly lead to you getting murdered on the job or getting
hurt or assaulted.”

Really?

Between 1867
and 2009, a total of 23 law Spokane County law enforcement officers –
police, Sheriff’s deputies, and one member of the County Game Commission – died
in the line of duty. Eleven of them – fewer than half that total – were killed
by suspected criminals. Six died in traffic accidents. Two were struck and
killed by drunk drivers. Two were fatally shot by fellow law enforcement personnel
during training exercises (one of them was killed by a police officer showing
off a quick-draw technique), and another was a game warden shot by a hunter who
was reaching for a permit. One officer died from a heart attack during SWAT
training.

None of those line-of-duty deaths occurred because an
officer was insufficiently aggressive during one of the perilous “law
enforcement situations” that haunt Preuninger’s imagination.

Interestingly, Spokane County – which maintains
a police Honor Guard that attends police funerals throughout the Northwest –
describes itself as “third in the state for line of duty deaths.” This
illustrates – redundantly – that law enforcement is not a particularly
hazardous occupation. In Spokane, as elsewhere, the citizen in a “law
enforcement situation” is at far greater risk than the police officer.

The deputies who murdered Yohe followed almost exactly the
same protocols used by the murderers of Otto Zehm a year earlier. Sheriff Knezovich
defiantly insisted
that he saw no reason to change those procedures.

This isn’t to say, however, that the Sheriff was
categorically opposed to reform: In a joint press conference with Chief
Kirkpatrick, Knezovich indignantly protested the use of the term “hog-tied” to
describe the method used by officers to truss their prone and helpless victims;
the appropriate term, he insisted, is “hobbled.”

In keeping with Sheriff Knezovich’s delicate sensibilities, Clark
suggested that language like the following would be suitable: “Trent Yohe, a
methamphetamine addict, was holiday gift-wrapped after a spirited difference of
opinion with sheriff’s deputies.” What about the eyewitness report that
deputies had kicked out the victim’s false teeth? Easy: Yohe wasn’t brutalized –
he “participated in a police-assisted dental plan.” And henceforth, a Taser
will be called a “joy buzzer.”

“Sleep well, Mr. Clark, because no matter how much you
insult me, no matter how low you go to belittle my profession, if you find
yourself in harm’s way, you need only call and one of us will come and risk our
life to save yours: an irony I am quite sure you can never fathom,” whined
Preuninger in a tone worthy of a passive-aggressive teenage girl.

As is almost always the case in such matters, it is Officer
Preuninger who suffers from a severe irony deficiency: None of the officers he
trained intervened to save Otto Zehm when that innocent man was being beaten to
death by Karl Thompson, who was a “mentor” to the entire force and their
preferred candidate to be chief.

Following Thompson’s guilty verdict, U.S. Attorney Mike
Ormsby asserted that “This is not an indictment of our entire police force.” Oh,
yes it is.

Thank you, once again!

On behalf of the entire Grigg family, I want to tell you how much we appreciate your very generous donations. This means more than I can adequately express. Have a wonderful Christmas!

31 comments:

Paul
said...

"...no matter how low you go to belittle my profession, if you find yourself in harm’s way, you need only call and one of us will come and risk our life to save yours..."

I've heard this spiel from cops online before. It apparently never occurs to them that we are at a stage where calling a cop is about the last thing a lot of people want to do. It would be like a Jew needing help in Nazi Germany, deciding whether to call the Gestapo.

Government employee Preuninger also pulls out the old "Monday morning quarterbacking" canard. But since the police do not stop crime only show up afterwards, don't they "MMQ" every action taken by citizens?

The police, and indeed NO government entity of any kind, has any legal obligation to "protect" or defend any individual under any circumstances, except when specifically contracted... as in a "witness protection" program. And I would certainly not put a lot of faith into that sort of protection in any case.

Just ask the next cop you dare talk to. I'm sure there are a few who don't really know (can they actually tie their shoes all by themselves?), but most will bluff or lie rather than tell the truth.

Their job... their ONLY real job, is to protect the government entity they work for and maintain suitable control for the convenience of themselves and their real employers... which isn't YOU.

You are on your own for self defense, like it or not. I wonder how long people will continue to tolerate any of this "only one" criminal behavior.

Mike, you're obviously better qualified than I am to address the use of the NRB mask. It is "silly" to use a mask of that type as a spit shield, but that's the official story here.

The criminal and civil complaints in this case said that the mask was used the shield the police, not to treat the victim, and emphasized that it wasn't used properly. Mention was also made of the fact that the small opening in that mask left Zehm particularly vulnerable to suffocation, given the face-down position in which he was restrained.

One point I neglected to mention was that the mask was not in the physical evidence provided to the ME after Zehm's death. I think that's a potentially significant detail.

I had to comment on this before I read the story, mostly because I spent about two weeks during the summer reading your entire archives and I am a big fan. I actually used a few of your quotes and people thought they were genius. I love the one where you call police a "thugscrum," and "write an extortion note euphemistically referred to as a traffic citation." Brilliant. Brilliant because it is true. I am just wondering why you have not yet delved into the Occupy Wallstreet movement. I am a grad student right now and just wanted to congratulate you for being an outstanding writer. (Even if I cannot support your writing by purchasing your books at the moment, I can at least offer you a loyal reader of your blog and check several times a week to see if you update.)

Lately when I come across one of the "annoited" ones my default position is to place my hand above my head and lock my fingers together, I have had some strange looks my way when I do this, they don't see the sarcasm in this gesture, and they surely can't say I was reaching for a gun or hiding my hands...

It has become obvious that whenever you find yourself in the presence of a cop you must immediately assume that you are in a life-threatening situation, no matter where you are or what you happen to be doing.Perhaps we should all begin to stand perfectly still and raise our hands, even if a cop is spotted 50 feet away, and maintain that pose until the threat passes from view. I wonder how the "police force" would handle an ongoing bad PR situation of that magnitude? They deserve to find out.

Most cops are substance abusers. Many have been prescribed some pretty heavy duty anti-psychotic drugs that would deem the average citizen unfit to peddle a trycycle, let alone drive a police car or carry a weapon. You never know what kind of anti-psychotic drugs they're taking. Along with that many are alocholics. Between alcholism, anti-psychotic drugs and other substance abuses many should be declared unfit for duty.

Indeed. They whine and cry about having their actions judged after the fact. Perhaps all criminals should adopt the police defense - you see, only a thief could tell that I faced a real threat...

Regarding a NRB - I worked in an EMS system that was more chummy than most with the police. Use of a NRB as a "spit guard" came up a lot, and yes, it's more than that, it's a means of compliance. Most come with only one flap, but if you take a second flap from another mask and put it on, and don't flow O2, it's frightening and easily blocked.

Hang these murderous thugs with badges. I am sick of seeing police officers kill people at the drop of a hat, and given a free pass just because "they were doing their job." If that's the job, I say eliminate the position!

It's funny to hear a cop say something along the lines of "...if you find yourself in harm’s way, you need only call and one of us will come and risk our life to save yours..."

The majority of response are after the fact. My girlfriend was physically assaulted (knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly) in Spokane, and the response was "stay there, an officer will be there in approximately 30 minutes." Needless to say, she walked home rather than staying in the area, and the only follow-up was a phone call two days later.

Rarely will a cop be in a situation to pro-actively and directly prevent harm to anyone. Their jobs mostly consist of cleaning up after the fact or providing revenue generation for the government that employs them.

You can't ever rely on the police to protect you from harm. You can only rely on yourself and those around you at the time of the incident.

As I have often said, this kind of conduct only continues because we, the people, allow it to continue.

In any conflict, when only one side insists on restricting their actions with a code of ethical conduct, they will inevitably find themselves at the mercy of their adversary, who does not place such restrictions on their actions. And make no mistake - the people of the United States are now involved in a low-grade conflict with the federal government and all of its state and local auxiliaries.

We, the people, are not yet prepared for the moral and psychological cost of stooping to the same level of conduct frequently inflicted on us by those who would most accurately described as the American Ministerium für Staatssicherheit.

We are still human. We still believe in Liberty and basic human rights. We still choose to adhere to a basic code of moral conduct.We still seek to serve and protect our fellow citizens.We still love our nation and what it is supposed to stand for.The Stasi serve only political masters.The Stasi protect only themselves, and their power.

Once again, as long as the vast majority of the Amoricon sheeple swallow the "cops as heroes in blue" BS (and it's obvious that most still do), incidents such as this will only grow more frequent in number and in intensity of violence. It saddens me to say it, but until more of you, your families, and your neighbors become victims of these thugscum pigs, NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE and there will an endless number of Otto Zehms to mourn.

Well, Holder is currently seeking to phalanx further federal deputization of local police owing to the huge spike in gun-related porcine demise.

I would like to know if Mr. Grigg or other informed readers know of any way to get stats on the number of civilians killed in the line of existing, whether criminal suspects or assailants or not. If so, I think it would be a good chart to have to compare against the minuscule numbers of deceased cops.

Thought you'd get a kick out of this piece of pro-police propaganda. Lot's of stuff about how we can't believe what we see on cell phone or surveillance video of police brutality.http://lcpubw04.lanecounty.org/information/yourlanevideos/LaneCountyDistrictAttorney_and_LawEnforcementAgencies.wmv

Has anyone tried shunning the police? I don't mean just avoiding contact with them, which any aware person does these days, but actively refusing to interact with them at all even when they are "off duty."--to not speak to them, sell anything to them, buy anything from them, lend anything to them, socialize with them, etc. Perhaps this practice would inspire them to find honest work.

This article is so sad to me, my heart dropped when I heard about Trent. See, Trent is my brother from my father before my father married my mother. Though I never met him, only talked to him and we wrote back and fourth, when I was younger. For many years after loosing contact with trent, I looked for him on internet, white pages, information and couldn't find him, last year I googled him again and found out he was murderd by the police. So, sad this happened to him and his daughter has to grow up with out him. I live in michigan and thought some cities here had b ad police but Spokane seems to take the cake. Vigilante police?

This was so sad to read. TRENT Yohe, is actually my brother from my father before my father and mother met. MY FATHER WAS ESTRANGED FROM TRENT. When I was 15 my mother told me about trent, I looked him up and found him, we had a few phone conversations, and wrote each other a few times. We lost touch because he moved or something, many years I looked for him and found nothing. I hoped to one day meet him but now I know, that will never happen. The police are supposed to protect and save lives, not kill people. TRENT, very sad thing for his wife and especially his young daughter. God protect the people of Spokane from the crooked, forceful cops.